Yesterday was probably about the best day of summer so far and we decided to drive to the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens and walk from there to Leith, Edinburgh’s port. Neither of us had ever been to Leith before, like most port areas it had a pretty sleazy reputation but in recent years it has been gentrified and I suppose ‘untarted’ would be the best description, rather than tarted up. We walked along the part of the Water of Leith which leads there and it was quite a bit longer than I thought it was going to be. It was a sweltering 21 C which is about 70 F and I was sans sun-hat, luckily there was a nice breeze now and again. This is an inscription on the path to Leith. I thought it was quite pithy.
On reaching Leith we decided to walk on to the shopping centre Ocean Terminal because that is where the Royal Yacht Britannia is permanently berthed and as it’s now a museum the idea was to have a look around it but by the time we got there we were too tired to take the tour, bearing in mind that we had a long walk back to the car ahead of us, so next time we’ll drive there. This is a photograph of the stern of the yacht with a hideous modern cruise ship in the background. I thought it was a block of flats at first, these modern ships are ugly big lumps compared with the beautiful elegant lines of the old ships.
Ocean Terminal is supposed to be a wonderful shopping experience. It isn’t. It’s the usual shops in a soulless atmosphere. So we wasted no time there and started on the long trudge back to the car. Thirst got the better of us and we stopped off at a pub in Leith, we really needed a rest too. I think the pub we were in is just beyond the building with the tower. I was quite surprised how continental the buildings on Leith waterfront look. It must have been the Dutch influence I think, they used Dutch pan-tiles as ballast for ships in the past which is why the old cottages on the east coast of Scotland tend to have pan-tiled roofs.
So a good day out was finished off with ice-cream from the stall across from the botanics, very tasty. I had maple and walnut and sticky toffee fudge. What with that and the cider I don’t think I’ll have lost any weight despite the very long walk!
The Royal Yacht Britannia is beautiful – very majestic looking. Any day that ends with ice cream is a good day to me!
Anbolyn,
I’m hoping to be able to take photos of the inside of the yacht when we take the tour. The ice-cream was lovely but for some reason my husband’s choice always seems better than mine! He had a really lovely Turkish Delight flavour which had big pieces of chocolate in it. I’m having that next time!
I dragged Jack off to the botanic garden when we were in Edinburgh. I wish I had realized we could walk to Leith. What a lovely waterfront! Jack (and I) would have enjoyed the Royal Yacht. I agree with you about those new cruise ships. No beauty or character.
Joan,
The great thing about Edinburgh is that it’s so small, especially compared with Glasgow, so everything seems to be within a walkable distance. Britannia was probably still owned by the Queen when you were last in Edinburgh, she gave it up when it became too expensive to keep, but it is always going to be berthed at Leith so you can see it next time you come!
Oh, and, my goodness, I envy you your ‘hot’ weather: it’s supposed to be 90F in Philadelphia today! I’ll trade you your hot weather for ours any day! Today is the 4th of July and I can only imagine all those sweaty, grumpy tourists traipsing around the city. I plan to park myself near the AC with a good book.
Joan,
I really feel for you, I don’t know how you stand being stuck in the house as it’s too hot outside. At least you’ll get a lot of reading done. I read a lot more in the winter, it’s like hibernating with books!